A red ‘Blood Moon’ will soon appear over NC skies. When to look up
North Carolinians will soon get a rare chance to see the final Blood Moon lunar eclipse for the next two years — but it’ll require an early alarm.
The eclipse will be visible across North Carolina and much of North America this week, according to space.com, and it’ll be the last one until New Year’s Eve 2028.
The term “blood moon” refers to the deep red color the moon takes on for a little more than an hour as it moves fully into Earth’s shadow, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Here’s what to know about the Blood Moon.
When can you see the Blood Moon in NC?
A total lunar eclipse will take place on the morning of Tuesday, March 3 beginning at 3:44 a.m., according to space.com
Earth’s shadow will start covering the moon at 4:50 a.m., beginning the partial eclipse. At first the shadow will look dark, then turn brown and eventually deep red as more of the moon is covered.
At 6:04 a.m., the moon will be completely inside Earth’s shadow — this is when the “blood moon” begins. Totality will last 58 minutes, with the moon glowing red because Earth’s atmosphere filters out blue light and lets red light pass through.
The eclipse reaches its peak at 6:33 a.m.
In North Carolina, people will see the full partial phase and the start of totality before the moon sets around sunrise.
The moon will begin to move out of Earth’s shadow at 7:02 a.m., with the partial eclipse ending at 8:17 a.m., and the entire eclipse wrapping up at 9:23 a.m., space.com says.
How to observe the eclipse
While eye safety issue for solar eclipses, it’s not needed for lunar eclipses, according to CNET.
“You don’t need any special equipment, but it’s still a good opportunity to try out binoculars or a telescope if you have them,” Emily Rice, associate professor of astrophysics at the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York, told CNET.
It could be helpful to “scope out the moon” before the eclipse to get a feel for its location and brightness, she added.
What is a lunar eclipse?
During a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow obscures the moon, according to NASA.
Lunar eclipses happen when Earth is positioned exactly between the moon and the sun, NASA says. When that occurs, Earth’s shadow falls upon the surface of the moon, which appears to dim it.
Why does the moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?
When the moon moves into the inner part of the Earth’s shadow, or the umbra, some of the sunlight passes through Earth’s atmosphere, lighting the moon dimly, according to NASA.
“Colors with shorter wavelengths ― the blues and violets ― scatter more easily than colors with longer wavelengths, like red and orange,” NASA states. Because these longer wavelengths make it through Earth’s atmosphere, and the shorter wavelengths have scattered away, the Moon appears orangish or reddish during a lunar eclipse.”
Portions of this story were previously published in The Charlotte Observer.
This story was originally published March 2, 2026 at 10:55 AM with the headline "A red ‘Blood Moon’ will soon appear over NC skies. When to look up."
